1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the art of architectural products for buildings and in particular to non-structural or aesthetic architectural panel wall systems which are applied to buildings in order to replace heretofore traditional outer-coverings such as brick or stucco. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel support system for prefabricated architectural panels of a panel wall system along with a method for attaching the same onto the outermost surface of a building and/or architectural structure, suitable for use in commercial, residential and industrial buildings.
2. Background Art
The exterior walls of commercial, residential, and industrial buildings are typically made from concrete block or stud-formed walls. The exterior surface of these walls is typically covered by an outer covering such as brick or stucco, in order to make the outside of the building more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. However, brick is expensive and requires extensive labor costs to properly apply it to the exterior of the building. Moreover, stucco, although cheaper to apply to the exterior of the building than brick, requires painting and does not provide the smooth exterior surface that is often desired by architects. In order to overcome these deficiencies, other methods of covering the exterior surfaces of buildings have been developed.
Panel-type exterior wall systems are well known in the art and are useful for finishing the exteriors of commercial and/or industrial buildings. Panel-type exterior wall systems typically include a multiplicity of pan-like rectangular panels arranged side-by-side and end-to-end adjacent one another in a relatively closely spaced relation. Each panel includes a flange around its perimeter which extends toward the buildings exterior surface. More particularly, in order to create the perimeter flange, a router is used to score around the perimeter of the panel and the outer perimeter portion of the panel is then bent to a generally 90° angle relative to the panel face to form the pan. This system is generally known as a “route and return” system to those having skill in the art. A silicon-based sealant is then applied at the joint between each of the panels which allows for expansion and contraction of the joint. Panel-type exterior wall systems provide the building with an improved resistance to weather, including wind and water, and also provide an attractive finish to the exterior of the building.
One particular type of exterior panel wall system utilizes individual prefabricated panels that are suitably attached or fastened to the building framing by an attachment system. More particularly, composite aluminum panels of the shape and description set forth above and composed of two thin aluminum skins laminated to a plastic core which are generally about 4 mm in overall thickness are joined to the building framing by a framework of stiffener-retainers and stiffeners. These panels are typically rectangular or square in shape and are capable of being manufactured in various sizes. Typical panels measure from about 12-15 feet in length and 3-5 feet in height; of course, other varying shapes and dimensions of the panels are possible.
These types of paneled exterior wall systems have become popular in climates where the buildings to which the wall systems are attached are exposed to both high wind and increased quantities of rain. In these situations, the paneled wall systems must serve as a barrier to weather and water infiltration. One such area where the systems have become popular is the Miami-Dade region of the southern portion of Florida. This particular region of the country is known for its exposure to hurricanes which develop in the Atlantic Ocean and often cut a path through the southern region of Florida. Because hurricanes typically have winds that exceed 100 mph, regulations have been implemented by governing authorities in the region that require paneled wall systems applied to the exterior of buildings to withstand certain minimum testing requirements. More particularly, the Miami-Dade region of Florida is known as a “High Velocity Hurricane Zone”. Because of these regulatory guidelines, few prior art paneled wall systems have been certified as meeting the minimum requirements of the region.
One such prior art system includes a series of horizontally-spaced interlocking stiffener-retainers and stiffeners in which the stiffener-retainers are attached to the exterior surface of the building. In turn the stiffeners are attached to the aluminum composite panel and the cooperation of the stiffener-retainers with the stiffeners allows the aluminum composite panels to be supported on the exterior of the building. More particularly, horizontally-spaced, longitudinally extending stiffener retainers are fastened by a suitable means, such as screws, to the exterior of the building. Similarly, horizontally-spaced, longitudinally-extending stiffeners are adhered to the composite aluminum panels by a suitable adhesive such as silicon. The stiffener-retainers and stiffeners interlock such that the composite panels then can be held on the exterior surface of the building. A continuous aluminum extrusion is attached to and extends around the perimeter of the composite panel. More particularly, a pair of female continuous aluminum extrusions are attached to two perimeter sides of the composite panel and a pair of male continuous aluminum extrusions are attached to the remaining two perimeter sides of the panel. More particularly, the pair of female continuous aluminum extrusions are fixedly attached to both the composite panel and the exterior of the building while the male continuous aluminum extrusions are attached only to the composite panel. The end result being that as the panels are assembled and attached onto the exterior of the building, two sides of each composite panel are floating and two sides are fixed to the building. This particular attachment system is difficult to install because it requires each horizontally-spaced longitudinally-extending stiffener retainer to be suitably attached to the exterior of the building. Because the stiffener retainers are typically spaced every sixteen inches, for a composite panel that is 5 feet high, at least 3 such retainers would need to be installed as well as the additional continuous aluminum extrusions around the perimeter of each composite panel.
Thus, a need exists in the art for a system to attach architectural panels to the exterior of a building in regions where hurricanes are likely to occur, such as the Miami-Dade region of Florida, which minimizes the cumbersome installation requirements of the prior art systems and conserves materials yet still provides an equivalent level of structural stability for the panels and which will still meet the minimum regulations and requirements set forth by the governing authorities for application of the panels. A need also exists in the art for a system to attach architectural panels to the exterior of a building in regions where hurricanes are not likely to occur, which minimizes the cumbersome installation requirements of the prior art systems and conserves materials yet still provides an equivalent level of structural stability for the panels.
These improvements are provided by the system for attaching architectural panels of the present invention which minimizes the cumbersome installation requirements of the prior art systems and minimizes material usage through the utilization of novel vertically disposed one-piece vertical tube stiffeners that incorporate the functional aspects of the prior art stiffener-retainers and stiffeners into one piece and which serve as the female for the required expansion and contraction joint thereby eliminating the need for a separate female continuous aluminum extrusion which is required by prior art systems.
These improvements are also provided by the system for attaching architectural panels of the present invention which minimizes the cumbersome installation requirements of the prior art systems and minimizes material usage through utilization of novel female brackets and male clips which replace the male and female continuous aluminum extrusions of the prior art.